


Remember

by lufthexe



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Reincarnation AU, slight coffee shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 15:46:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1946895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lufthexe/pseuds/lufthexe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reincarnation AU. </p>
<p>He had not hesitated in going up to her, trying to calm the pounding in his heart that was usually foreign to him. He was comfortable around everyone, yet she seemed to bring him to his knees with a glance.</p>
<p>And she had not remembered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember

She didn't remember him. 

That was punishment enough in itself; yet there Oberyn sat, torturing himself as he watched her reading in the bookstore, barely noticing the tea he sipped that was too bland for his liking and hot enough to burn. Clearly he was a masochist. Of course, seeing her in the first place had been like a splash of cold water after years of being half-awake. He had not hesitated in going up to her, trying to calm the pounding in his heart that was usually foreign to him. He was comfortable around everyone, yet she seemed to bring him to his knees with a glance.

And she had not remembered.

He had wanted to press her to the bookshelf and kiss her fully on the mouth, to feel the soft curls of her hair entwined in his hands; but she had politely smiled and introduced herself, and then moved on to her browsing. 

It cut him to the quick. 

He supposed he deserved this, though. He had been so obsessed with revenge that he did not think about what he might leave behind if he were to fail. So mired in his own arrogance that he lost sight of his daughters, his home. 

His Ellaria.

This was his penance, then, to watch the woman he loved live in complete oblivion to their shared past. It would be cruel of him to try and force her to remember a life that even now seemed almost like a dream. A glorious, brutal, impossible dream. A prince of a nation and father of eight daughters, and now he was only a lovestruck man in a cafe, brooding over a woman who might never know him.

________________________________________

Ellaria had known him the moment he had walked through the door. Of course she had. The love her life, her paramour; not even the sands of time would cause her to forget his lovely face, the way he shined like a sun in such a dreary city. She had watched him buy his drink, had made an obvious trail to the bookshelves scattered across the store, her heart nearly full to burst when he followed her. She had expected him to take her into his arms, to kiss her fully on the mouth, not stopping until they were both breathless, unheeded by the other people that milled about. 

But he had introduced himself, and it had stunned her. He did not know her name. She could barely respond, barely hold it together long enough to tell him her name then turn away. It was too painful. She could not bear the thought of losing him in this world, as well. 

________________________________________

He watched her leave, his knuckles white on his chair's arm as he restrained himself from running after her. She would come back. Surely she would come back. He could get to know her, talk to her, be near her.  
She would come back.

________________________________________

It was a week before Ellaria was able to return, work being so busy. Every day she sat at her laptop, daydreaming about the man who haunted her dreams. And nightmares.

Come Saturday morning, it took her way too long to choose her outfit. She tried to wear something that might jar his memory, make him look at with more than just polite interest. She chose a long mustard-colored maxi dress, gold bangles at her wrist and her curly hair tumbling over her shoulder. This was silly, she chided herself, but how many times had she hoped to meet him again in this life? She had to try. Even if it was futile.  
She put it out of her mind. The walk to the cafe would do her good. 

________________________________________

He had returned every day for a few hours, but there had been no sign of her. It was even worse than not knowing she was here, he thought; knowing nothing about her life, if he would ever see her again, if she already had a family with someone else who she loved and...he had to stop. His grip on his obligatory cup of tea was almost enough to spill it everywhere. 

And then she did walk in, and his heart stopped. 

It was as if they were transported back to Dorne, to their beloved home. Her dress was so similar to something she would wear, the bangles at her wrists...his heart ached at the sight of it. She had to remember him, even just some small part of him. There was no way they could share so much and then forget. He approached her cautiously, half of him arguing to sit back down and the other half of him shouting at him to kiss her. She smiled at his approach, though, and then his name was on her lips, as sweet a song as he had ever heard. 

He pulls her to an alcove, where there are less eyes and less noise. "Ellaria", he whispers, hoping, praying. They both are breathless, waiting, on the point of a precipice, eyeing the void before the plunge. 

She leaps first.

She does not care if he does not remember her, or their children, or their life; only that he is hers, and she is his, and her mouth is hot and needy on his as she pulls him ever closer to her. His eyes widen for only a second before he returns her affections with equal fervor, his hands sliding up the exposed skin at her back, praying that she had returned to him for real. His mouth is on her neck, her fingers carded through his hair when he feels the tears, looking up at her in surprise, and finds such sorrow in her eyes that it takes him aback for a second. He crushes her to his chest without a second thought, holding her as her grip on his shirt tightens. "Oh my love..." He starts, but there is so much to say, and no words to say it. Not here, not today. "I won't leave you alone in this world," he promises again, only this time he knows the weight it carries. He will not play lightly with this second chance he has been granted. Her grip tightens, his gaze conveying the depth of his promise as she looks at him with dark eyes. She is still beautiful, even now, his Ellaria.

And she remembers.

**Author's Note:**

> This couple is just too tragic. I had to give them as much of a happy ending as I could.


End file.
